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Published 9 years ago by imokruok with 6 Comments
by imokruok
9 years ago 6

Meet the Online Tracking Device That is Virtually Impossible to Block

A new kind of tracking tool, canvas fingerprinting, is being used to follow visitors to thousands of top websites, from WhiteHouse.gov to YouPorn.

Continue Reading http://www.propublica.org
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  • Gozzin (edited 9 years ago)
    +2

    Ad Block can stop it.

    9 years ago
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  • rhingo
    +2

    Whats the image of?

    9 years ago
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    4 Replies
    • imokruok
      +3

      I think it's just an illustration representing the "canvas fingerprinting" described in the article.

      9 years ago
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      3 Replies
      • rhingo (edited 9 years ago)
        +2

        I meant this image...

        First documented in a forthcoming paper by researchers at Princeton University and KU Leuven University in Belgium, this type of tracking, called canvas fingerprinting, works by instructing the visitor’s Web browser to draw a hidden image. Because each computer draws the image slightly differently, the images can be used to assign each user’s device a number that uniquely identifies it.

        9 years ago
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        • imokruok
          +1

          Go to the Canvas Fingerprinting in Action section, you can see the unique image your browser generates. It's a random image that is turned into an ID code used for tracking.

          9 years ago
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      • drunkenninja
        +2

        Yep, figured the same.

        9 years ago
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